All right, if you wouldn't open
your Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 37. Genesis chapter 37. We'll begin
reading in verse 12. I'll read through the end of
the chapter. Come and I will send thee unto
them. And he said to him, here am I. And he said to him, go,
I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren and well
with the flocks and bring me word again. So he sent him out
of the vale of Hebron and he came to Shechem. And a certain
man found him and behold, he was wandering in the field. And
the man asked him saying, what seekest thou? And he said, I
seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they
feed their flocks. And the man said, they are departed
hence, for I heard them say, let us go to Dothan. And Joseph
went after his brethren and found them in Dothan. And when they
saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they
conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another,
behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us
slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say some evil
beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what will become
of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered
him out of their hands, and said, let us not kill him. And Reuben
said unto them, shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that
is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him, that he might
rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that
they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors
that was on him. And they took him and cast him
into a pit, and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And
they sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and
looked, and behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead
with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to
carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren,
what profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?
Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our
hand be upon him, He is our brother in our flesh. And his brethren
were content. Then there passed by Midianites,
merchantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit
and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. And
they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned into the
pit and behold, Joseph was not in the pit and he ran his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren
and said, the child is not. And I, whither shall I go? And
they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and
dipped the coat in the blood. And they sent the coat of many
colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, This
have we found. Know now whether it be thy son's
coat or no. And he knew it, and said, It
is my son's coat. An evil beast hath devoured him.
Joseph is without doubt ran in pieces. And Jacob ran his clothes,
and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many
days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort
him, but he refused to be comforted. For he said, I will go down into
the grave under my son, mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt under Potiphar, an officer
of Pharaoh's and captain of the guard. We'll end our reading
there. Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, we bow before your
throne this evening. So thankful for your mercy and
grace that allows sinful men and women such as we are to come
before your throne, crying Abba Father. And Lord, I beg of you
this evening that you would condescend to meet with us in the person
of thy spirit. And Father, that you would enable
us to hear word from thee. Don't let us just go through
the motions of religion. But Father, how I beg of you
that you would speak to each heart here this evening through
your word, that you would enable each one of us to see the Lord
Jesus Christ in his redemptive glory. And Father, that you give
us faith to believe him and rest in him. Let us leave here tonight
rejoicing in Christ our Savior. He is worthy. He is all. Father, enable us to worship
and we pray. Father, we thank you for the many blessings of
this life, how richly you've blessed us. And Father, we pray
that you'd be with your people that you brought into the time
of trouble and trial. These trials don't mean we're
not blessed, but they've come from thy hand for our good, for
your glory. Father, we pray that you'd give
us the patience to wait on thee, the grace, to wait on thee, knowing
that thou doest all things well. We pray a special blessing for
our brother Cecil at this time and his whole family. Father,
that you'd undertake in his behalf to comfort the heart and be with
them in a special way. We pray for our sister Haley,
Father, that you'd heal her body quickly, deliver her from pain
and suffering, restore her quickly, we pray. Now, Father, all these
things we ask and we give thanks in that name which is above every
name. In the name of Christ our Savior, amen. Now the story that we just read
is an awful story of hatred and betrayal that happened in a family. It's just shameful, isn't it?
But as I always try to do when we look at stories like this,
people behaving this way, I would like for us to quickly remember
before we look down our noses at them, Let's remember that
the same heart of hatred is in each of us. It really is amazing
how quickly we can be turned from saying we love one another
to hating them. It happens very quickly. And this is also something
for us to remember. This story is given to us as
a picture of Christ. This is a picture of the hatred
that's in the heart of the natural man towards Christ the Savior.
Joseph is a picture of Christ And the way Joseph's brothers
hated him, that's how you and I hate Christ by nature, the
nature of man. These brothers, they betrayed
their little brother. They're supposed to be taking
care of him. The older brother, isn't he supposed to be watching
out for the younger one? And they betrayed him. They planned
to kill him and ended up selling him into slavery. But this is
such a clear picture of how Christ our Savior was betrayed by a
close friend. and sent to die on the cross
bearing the curse of the sin of his people. The most shameful
thing ever done in God's creation is the betrayal, the torture,
and the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. The most shameful
thing that ever happened, but it had to be that way. It had
to be done that way so that God's purpose of redemption would be
brought to pass. It has to be this way. Joseph
had to be betrayed is a picture of Christ because Christ had
to be betrayed. I'm gonna give you three reasons
why. Number one, that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Our Lord
himself told his disciples, one of you is gonna betray him. Remember
how they all said, is it I? Is it I? Is it I? You'll notice
not one of them said, oh, it's Judas. I mean, this guy sticks
out like a sore thumb. They didn't say that, did they?
They said, is it I? He told them he would be betrayed,
be betrayed by one of them. And this betrayal is prophesied
and pictured all throughout the Old Testament. Here in our text,
it's pictured. If you look at Psalm 41, here's
a spot where David prophesied of the Lord's betrayal. Psalm
41. Psalm 41, verse nine. Yea, mine
own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, wished to eat of my
bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. Now this actually
happened to David when he hit the fell. David's most wise and
trusted servant, he betrayed David and he helped Absalom in
Absalom's rebellion against his father, David. That actually
happened to David. And that happened as a picture
of what Judas, who ate bread, with the Lord that very night
would betray him. Zachariah also prophesied. Look at Zachariah chapter 11. Next to the last book in the
Old Testament, Zachariah. Chapter 11, verse 12. And I said unto them, if ye think
good, give me my price, and if not, forbear. So they weighed
for my price 30 pieces of silver. How many years was this written
before that transaction happened between Judas and the Pharisees?
He even told the exact price they'd settled on, 30 pieces
of silver. And the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter,
a goodly price that I was prized of at the end. And I took the
30 pieces of silver and cast them to the potter, in the house
of the Lord. You remember Judas came back
and said, oh, I betrayed innocent blood. And they said, what's
that to us? He threw the money back at the
floor on Adam. They said, this is the price
of blood. We can't keep it. And they bought
a potter's field to bury poor people in. Prophesied of all
those years before this ever happened to our Lord. Everything
that ever happened to our Lord, everything he did, everything
that happened to him, was prophesied of in the Old Testament. And
Judas too, what he did was prophesied of in the Old Testament. Everything
our Lord did was to fulfill the scriptures. This week I counted
at least 33 times in the four gospels, it said this happened
that the scriptures might be fulfilled. This happened to bring
to pass the saying of some prophet or another, that the prophet
might be fulfilled. This happened. the betrayal of
Christ happened to fulfill the scriptures. And there's a good
reason that it happens that way. Because here's my second point.
Here's why the scriptures must be fulfilled. To comfort the
hearts of God's people. So that we'll know everything
that happens in God's creation is the eternal purpose of God. Salvation that would be accomplished
by the betrayal and the suffering and the death of Christ That
is the eternal will and purpose of God. And the Lord filled the
Old Testament with scriptures and prophecies to comfort the
hearts of God's people, to remind us over and over and over again,
nothing happens by chance. Nothing. Nothing happens by chance. What is it that happened to you
today? It wasn't by chance. It was God's eternal purpose.
Everything happens that way according to God's eternal will and purpose.
And that includes the salvation of God's elect. You know, a lot
of people would like to say, oh, let God be sovereign everywhere
but salvation. Now you got to leave that up
to my choice. Salvation only happens. The salvation of a sinner
only happens by the eternal will and purpose of God. God always
purposed to save his people by the obedience and by the sacrifice
of his son. It was never God's intention
to leave salvation up to the dead will of a sinner. Because
this is what God knew. If he leaves it up to the will
of a dead sinner, nobody will ever be saved. It's the will
of God that makes the salvation of his people sure. Bob, if God
willed it, it'll happen, won't it? It will. It has to. then if the salvation of a sinner
is God's will, it's gonna happen. See, it's God's sovereignty in
salvation. That's what makes salvation sure.
And Lord gave us the Old Testament to show us in our grandship.
It was hidden from the natural man in types and pictures and
shadows. But the Old Testament tells us that salvation has always
been in Christ alone. It was never left up to man to
accomplish it. Salvation has always been dependent. upon Christ
coming and fulfilling and securing that salvation for His people.
Since Christ is the one doing the saving, that's what makes
salvation sure. The will of the Father makes
it sure. And Christ being the one to accomplish it perfectly,
that makes the salvation of God's people sure in it. Now come and rest. Come and rest
in Christ. since it all depends upon Christ. That's good reason to rest, isn't
it? You can count on it. I know people say, well, God
gave the law so man could earn his own righteousness. Now, that's
not so. The scriptures tell us that.
Why did God give us the law? To show us the exceeding sinfulness
of sin. God gave us the law as a mirror
so we can look in it and see how sinful we are. People say, well, God tried to
save people by the law and that didn't work, so God came up with
plan B. If there's a God that needs a
plan B, He's not God. Isn't that right? God doesn't need a plan B. He
always accomplishes His will the first time. God gave us the
law to show us our need of Christ. He gave us the law to show us
our inability to keep it So we'd be glad to see Christ come. That's
why he gave the law to show us how miserable we are so that
we'd be happy when Christ came, when he came to accomplish salvation
by God's eternal purpose. Now here's comfort for your heart.
If you believe on Christ, here's some comfort for your heart. God didn't change his mind about
salvation in the first 4,000 years of man's Time on earth did. All man's
sin and rebellion. He didn't change his mind. He
still sent his son to suffer and die to pay for the sin of
those people. He didn't change his mind. And now 2000 years
later, God still isn't changing his mind. God's purpose of salvation
in Christ alone will never change. Will never change. Now come and
rest. Come and rest your soul on Christ
because it's God's eternal purpose that all salvation be found in
Him. Now come rest. Come rest. God is not like you and me. That's our problem by nature.
We think God's just like us. Aren't you glad God's not like
us? I've changed three or four times today. God never changes. He never changes. Christ died
for your sin. God will never change his mind
and cast you out. Never. Now come rest in Christ. Now here's the third thing. This
betrayal of Christ, and it's exactly the same with Joseph
and his brother. The betrayal of Christ is the
only way God's elect could be saved from their sin. It's the
only way. And I'll show you this in a minute,
in this picture. Truth be told, the only way Joseph's
brethren can be saved from starving to death is if they first betray
Joseph. Let me show you that. I want
us to look at Joseph's brothers as a type of God's elect because
they're the ones Joseph is going to deliver. I know he's going
to sell food to everybody, but you know, Joseph has been sent
down there to save Israel, to save his His people alive, God's
seed alive. Joseph's brethren, they're a
picture of God's elect, and all of God's elect, I don't care
where you find them, they're guilty of sin. I mean they're guilty
as sin, they're guilty of sin, they're just as guilty as any
other son of Adam. Just like Joseph's brothers,
they're guilty. They're guilty. Years later, Joseph didn't tell
his brothers, oh no, no, you didn't do it. No, he told them,
you meant it for evil. but God meant it for good. And
he told him, I forgive you. You did it, but I forgive you.
Joseph's brothers are guilty of hatred and plotting to kill
their little brother. Now they don't know it yet. They
don't know the famine's coming. Joseph doesn't even know it yet.
There's famine coming. They're under the sentence of
death. This famine is coming. and they don't have the first
idea that's coming, they don't have the first idea to prepare
for it, they don't have any idea how it is we're gonna survive
this famine without starving to death. That's God's elected. We're already lost in sin. When
we're conceived in our mother's womb, we're lost in sin. We're
already dead in sin and we don't have any idea how to obtain life. We're under the sentence of God's
wrath and we don't even know it. We're under the condemnation
of God for our sin, and we don't have any idea how to get out
of it. We don't have any idea how to satisfy God's justice.
We don't have any idea how to appease God. And here's something
else we don't know. We don't know that God has reserved
for his people grace, because he's purposed grace and salvation
for these people. Let me give you several pictures
of this. The brothers have gone out with Jacob's sheep and their
pictures of God's lost sheep. Well, how will they be found?
How will they be saved? Well, somebody's got to go get
them, don't they? Somebody's got to go get them. Joseph said,
I'll do it. Look at verse 13 in our text, Genesis 37. And
Israel said unto Joseph, do not thy brethren feed the flock and
sheikah? and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him,
here am I. And he said to him, go, I pray
thee, and see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with
the flocks, and bring me word again. So he sent him out of
the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. Now in eternity,
the father said, I have people. I have people that are lost.
They're lost in sin. The father didn't need somebody
to go get him a report to tell him how they were doing. He already
knew how they were doing, didn't he? He already knew that they
were lost in sin. He knew where they were. But
he said to his son, they're lost. Somebody's got to go get them.
Who will go for us? Who will go bring these sheep
home? And the son said, here are mine. Send me. That's what
Joseph said, isn't it? But when Christ was come, He
was come on a mission of mercy. He was come with a purpose of
grace. But when He came, He was hated,
wasn't He? He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. They didn't receive Him because
they hated Him. It's not like they're ambivalent to Him. Eh,
His doctrine doesn't sound so hot. I just think I'll choose
something else. It's not like they were ambivalent. They weren't
lukewarm or luke cold or however, you know, whatever that, correct
term is, they hated him. That's why they didn't receive
him, they hated him. Man by nature hates the Lord Jesus Christ because
he's the one that tells us we're lost. He's the one. He's the
one that tells us we're defiled by sin. I know preachers can
tell you all the time how sinful you are. This is a sin, this
is a sin, this is a sin. I tell you how I've channeled
certain rounds, stopped at these channels I shouldn't be stopping
on, just like rubbernecking at a wreck on the side of the road. But he was, I mean, he was hammering
on sexual immorality, and if we just stop this sexual immorality,
everybody, you know, get all fixed up. No, they wouldn't. Having some preacher just pound
and pound and pound at you, telling you, you're doing this wrong,
you're doing this wrong, you're doing this wrong, you're doing this wrong.
That doesn't show you your sin. You know when I found out I was
a sinner? I told somebody this this weekend. I've been a five-point
Calvinist as long as I've understood language. But I didn't know the
Lord. I believed in total depravity.
You know when I found out I'm totally depraved? You know when
I found that out? When I saw the Lord. Seeing Him. in His perfection,
in His holiness, in His glory. Oh, now I know I'm a sinner. Isn't that what Job said? I've
heard of you at the hearing of the ear. Now mine eye seeth you. Wherefore I abhor myself. See,
it's Christ that reveals the dead nature of our sin. It's
His life that shows our dead nature. It's His holiness that
shows our depravity. But the natural me, even when
we get a glimpse of our sin, you know what we do if God leaves
us to ourselves? We won't hate ourselves because
of our sin. We won't beg God for mercy because
of our sin. No, we'll hate Christ because
he's the one that showed me the sin. I mean, that's like me getting
on the scale in the morning and hating the scale because it says
I'm overweight. That's just not smart. We want
to kill the messenger because the messenger tells us the truth.
The messenger's Christ, isn't it? And that's why Joseph's brothers
hated him. They hated him because he was
his father's favorite. They hated Joseph for his dreams
that foretold how they're gonna come and bow down to him. And
they saw him coming and they said, nobody's looking, let's
take him and kill him. Then we'll see what happens to
his dreams. Isn't that exactly What their
descendants who became scribes and Pharisees all those years
later in that exactly what they said about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's take him and kill him. As he's hanging there on the
cross mocking and saying, let's see if God will have it. You
say you're the son of God. Come down from the cross will
believe you, but if you don't come down from the cross, you
must not be the son of God. We're seeing now what happened
to all this. Prophecy and all this everything
you say we're seeing what happens happening to it now You're dying. That's what's happening You said
you can destroy the temple and rebuild in three days we'll come
down from the cross We'll see what's happening. You're saying
the temple is not being destroyed You say they said you're the
king of the Jews Well, we'll see what happens that same we're
seeing it now look at that crown you're wearing It's a crown of
thorns Look at that scepter you have. It's just an old reed.
Just a weak old reed. You say you're a king? We got
a purple robe for you. It's just an old rug we got laying
around. We'll throw it over your lacerated back. Look what is becoming of what
you're saying that you're the king of the Jews. That's the
very thing Joseph's brother said as they're on their way home
after they sold Joseph into slavery. Huh! Bow down to him. I wish we would. That's what
they're saying. Let's see what happens to his
dreams. Now what Joseph's brothers did
to him was despicable. I just, it's despicable. You
parents would shudder to think of some of your children doing
this to one of your other children. But you know what? It's the only
way they could be saved alive years down the road in Egypt.
It's the only way. When Joseph's brothers betrayed
him, they became a picture of Judas. Now, how Judas betrayed
our Lord is despicable. The other apostles, it doesn't
seem to me like they really ever got over it. When they write
about Judas, it's just John, when he was writing, he says,
in Judas, Stood with them. Like he still couldn't believe
it. Judas stood with them. He stood with this crowd that
was coming to take the Lord. He couldn't believe it. What
he did is despicable. God said he'll hold him accountable.
But you know what? Judas betraying the Lord. That's
the only way God's elect could be saved from their sin. I'm
going to give you several ways that that's true. First Joseph
is sold into slavery. As a picture, this is the only
way God's elect could be saved from their sin. See, you and
I have sold ourselves under sin, and there's a price on our head
that we cannot pay. So Christ came, and he took the
place of his people. He took their debt and made it
his, and he paid it. He became sold under sin. When
he was made sin for his people, he became responsible for that
sin. It's his sin, he's responsible for it. He sold himself under
sin in the place of his people as their substitute, and he paid
the price with his precious blood so that his people would go free.
And if he hadn't been betrayed, Judas hadn't betrayed him, Christ
would never have been taken and sold under sin because nobody
could take him against his will. He had to be betrayed just exactly
like he prophesied that it would. so that he would be crucified
to pay the price for his people. Second, Joseph had to become
a slave. The favorite son of Jacob became
a slave as a picture of Christ who came to this earth as a servant.
Joseph, well, you think how this kid's life He's 17, 18 years
old when this happened. He'd always lived in the protection
of his family and of the protective aunt of his father. And suddenly
he's in a pit. He sold to a bunch of Ishmaelites
hauled in a wagon down to Egypt to a land he doesn't know anybody.
He doesn't know the language. He doesn't know the customs.
He didn't know anybody. And he sold into slavery to this man
named Potiphar. And Joseph prospered there. I
mean, I know God blessed him and God was with him, but now
God gave this man some special, this special wisdom and understanding. He prospered as a servant. That reminds you of anybody else
you've heard of? Didn't that Christ our Savior, he came as
the servant and he prospered. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. As a servant, he did everything. that the father required of him
and he did it perfectly. He obeyed God's law so that his
people would be made righteous. His obedience is the obedience
of his people. He made his people the very righteousness
of God in him. He even obeyed his father to
suffer and die for the sin of his people, bearing the curse
of their sin. And that never would have happened
if Judas hadn't first betrayed Third, Joseph had to become a
prisoner. He had to become a prisoner as
a picture of Christ who became a prisoner. The Savior became
a prisoner of God's justice when he was a substitute for his people.
Joseph was taken as a prisoner against his will. Christ was
taken as a prisoner because it was his will. It was his will
that he be taken prisoner Otherwise, he never could have been taken.
That's why when that mob came to him and he told them, whom
seek ye, and they said, Jesus of Nazareth, he said, I am, and
they all fell over backwards. This is just to let you know
the only way you're taking me is if I let you. You're not taking
me at your will, you're taking me at my will. I am, he said. They never could have taken him
otherwise. But he had to be taken prisoner. Christ had to be taken
a prisoner to the jailhouse of sin because that's the only way
his people could go free. Christ set his people free from
the jailhouse, not by having a jailbreak, but by satisfying
justice, by taking their place in the jailhouse and satisfying
justice for them, by paying the price that they could never pay. And that never would have happened
if Judas hadn't first betrayed him. Fourth Joseph had to be
thrown into a pit so that he could suffer as a type of Christ
who was suffering for the sin of his people. Verse 24 tells
us that they took him and cast him into a pit, and the pit was
empty. There was no water in it. They
threw Joseph down in the wilderness. He'd been walking all this way.
I know he's thirsty already when he gets there. I know he is.
And they threw him down in this pit where there's no water. Aren't
you just sure that he cried and asked his brothers for a drink?
And he's crying, can't you let me free? Can't you at least give
me a glass of water? Who does that remind you of?
The Savior on the cross cried, I thirst. He wasn't saying he
was thirsty for water. Tell you what he was saying.
I'm thirsty for righteousness. When Christ was made sin for
his people, he thirsted for righteousness. because he'd been made sin and
that never could have happened if Judas hadn't first betrayed
him. Then fifth, Joseph's brothers stripped him of his beautiful
coat, that coat of many colors as a picture of the character
of Christ. They stripped him naked and they did that as a
picture of Christ who suffered and died naked before both God
and men. It had to be horrible to be stripped
naked and beaten and mocked. That just had to be horrible. To be taken and nailed to a hunk
of wood and hanging there naked, unable to cover yourself, unable
to do anything, just have people making fun of you, had to be
horrible. But I'll tell you what was much
more humiliating and horrible than that. When Christ was made
sin, he hung naked before his father. He was stripped of his
glory and he suffered before his father being made sin. And he suffered everything that
sin deserved. Being made sin, that wouldn't
bother you and me too much because that's all we are. for the holy
son of God to be made sin and hang naked before his father.
Oh, the suffering, the humiliation, the torture of that. That's why
he cried I thirst. He did that to let his people
know, I've taken the curse of sin from you. I've taken your
sin into my own body on the tree and I'm putting it away so you'll
never have to. but none of that ever could have
happened unless Judas first betrayed him. Then six, Joseph had to
be sold into Egypt as a slave so that he could then become
king. He had to first be a slave before he could become king and
save many people alive during those years of famine. Now Joseph's
brothers, we read this, they saw him coming and boy they,
I mean, oh, they hated this kid. They immediately plotted to kill
him. But the Lord intervened for his purpose. See, Joseph
is just a man like you and me. He had to be alive down in Egypt
so that he could become king. And that never would have happened
if his brothers had sold him into slavery. You know, if Judah
had his way, kind of hustled Joseph out of that pit and hustled
him back to his father. Joseph never would have been
in Egypt, would he? He had to be sold there so that
he could go down there and be in Egypt when it was time for
him to be king. Here's what's different between
Joseph and our Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ did have
to die. He actually had to die so that his blood would be shed
to put away the sin of his people. and his blood never would have
been shed if Judas hadn't betrayed him first. Look at Romans chapter
14. See, before he could be king, Christ had to suffer and he had
to die so that he earned the right to be king, so he bought
the right to be king. Romans 14 verse nine. For to this end, for this purpose,
Christ both died and rose and revived for this purpose, that
he might be Lord, that he might be king, both of the dead and
the living. See, Christ had to go down. He had to suffer. He had to die. He had to rise again so that
he would become king, so that he earned the right to be king
of both the dead and the living. And that's what he did. but Judas
had to betray him first, didn't he? Then here's the last thing. Joseph had to be betrayed by
his brothers so that years later there would be good news to tell.
There was a lot of years of suffering. I mean, I just hate to think
about how Joseph suffered all that time, how he suffered and
languished in prison, how he suffered missing his family,
missing his father, missing his brothers, Just, oh, I just can't
think how he suffered. This was a horrible existence. But he had to go through all
that. He had to be betrayed. He had to go through all that
so that years and years later, there'd be good news to tell.
In the seven years of famine, when people didn't have any bread,
Pharaoh had good news to tell. People came to Pharaoh expecting
him to give them bread. And you know what Pharaoh had
good news to tell? Go to Joseph. Joseph will give you all you
want. Go to Joseph. But that never would have happened if
Joseph's brothers hadn't betrayed him years ago. Now what Judas did is inexcusable. I hope you understand I'm in
no way glorifying or excusing what Judas did. What he did was
horrible. But since Judas betrayed the Savior so that he went and
he suffered and he died for the sin of his people, since that
horrible thing happened, I have good news to tell you
tonight, 2,000 years later. Brother, there's mercy in Christ. Now come to Christ. There's salvation
for your soul. in Christ. Now come to Christ. There's a life for your dead
soul in Christ. Now come to Christ. Your sin,
which is more vile and the debt bigger than we can even begin
to imagine, your sin is forgiven in the blood of Christ. Now come
to Christ. completing His blood, completing
His merit. Christ died so that His people
would never die. Christ was condemned so that
His people would never be condemned. And I say this especially for
you who believe, for your comfort. We know what we know, don't we?
We know the doctrine that we know. We know the truth that
we know. But we're in this body of flesh.
And unfortunately, how this flesh feels kind of somehow interferes
with what we know. When the Lord sends a trial your
way, it's going to hurt. If not, it's
not a trial. It's going to hurt. And it feels
like The Lord's punishing you, doesn't it? It feels like that
the Lord's gonna condemn you. It feels like he's gonna cast
you off. You know what it feels like? But it's not so. If Christ was
cast off for you, remember when he cried, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? If the father turned his back
on his son because of your sin, he'll never forsake you. If the father condemned his son
for your sin, he'll never condemn you. He'll always accept you
with open arms. And even though, I know we don't
see it, we don't understand it, maybe we'll see it years down
the road, but even those trials that he sends us are for our
good. Because you know what a trial does to an unbeliever? It drives
them from Christ, doesn't it? It drives them from the gospel.
You know what a trial does to God's people? It draws them up
closer to Christ. So even that's for our good,
isn't it? Let me tell you one more time.
Come to Christ and beg for mercy. Don't let your sin, don't let
your weakness, Don't let your lack of faith stop you from coming
to Christ. Come to Christ for just that
reason. Come to Christ because you are a sinner. I've got good
news for sinners. Christ died for sinners. Christ's
death saved sinners. And I wouldn't have that good
news to tell if Judas hadn't first betrayed the Lord. So that
was a despicable thing But like we've seen so often in our study
in Genesis, isn't that a mighty good illustration of God bringing
good out of evil? That's what he does for his people.
I hope that'll be a blessing and comfort to your heart. Let's
bow together. Our Father, we bow before you. Father, we beg your blessing
on your word. Father, I beg of you that you
take your word and apply it to the hearts of your people for
your glory. Father, you speak to the hearts
of your people. Don't let the stumbling and the
bumbling and the weakness of the voice interfere. But Father, speak to the hearts
of your people. Comfort our hearts by revealing
to us the Lord Jesus Christ and causing us to run to him. Let
us see his glory and how he has completely and utterly saved
his people from their sin. Father, it's in Christ's name,
for his sake and his glory, we pray. Amen.